Video: McCaskill blasts Tea Party while decrying partisanship

posted at 4:41 pm on October 2, 2013 by Ed Morrissey

Res ipsa loquitur — but still worth a few words nonetheless. It’s impossible to defend the National Park Service by demanding bipartisanship while in the same breath berating the Tea Party for pointing out that the NPS spent money to shut down an unstaffed, open-air, 24/7 memorial that runs primarily on private funds. That didn’t keep Senator Claire McCaskill from trying, though, as she rushed to the World War II memorial to attempt to undo the debacle created by the White House:

When asked about why the National Park Service didn’t try to stop Honor Flight veterans from entering the World War II Memorial Senator Claire McCaskill said “people who are in Park Service have a lot more sense than the Tea Party”. She then decried politicization of the shut out of veterans saying “this isn’t about politics, this is about honoring these men that served in World War II”. However, when the Capitol City Project’s Joe Schoffstall asked her to expand on her comments about the Tea Party the senator said “no” and her aide cut the interview off.

NBC’s Kasie Hunt tried to make the argument for McCaskill:

All of you making WWII memorial closure about politics: cut it out and watch this. Not a pol's face anywhere in it. http://t.co/gu1oS3WWQQ

Perhaps Hunt should be asking the White House what in a spending cutoff required seven security guards and a forklift to barricade a park that has no staffing or admissions process, and which remains open whether NPS is on duty or not. That appears to be where the politics started, and McCaskill’s now playing the “squirrel” card … incompetently, at that.

Federal officials have closed a number of popular tourist attractions in Washington, citing the government shutdown, but they’ve left lesser-known locations un-barricaded, as evidenced by an interactive map compiled by House Republicans.

“It appears as though only the highly visible monuments and areas are being closed to the public — further proof that the Obama Administration is only playing politics and purposely choosing to make this shut down as painful as possible,” House Natural Resources Committee chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said. …

On the other hand, Hastings’ team noted that the Constitution Gardens, the Upper Senate Park, and the Japanese-Americans Memorial, among others, remain open.

Perhaps Hunt should be asking the White House what in a spending cutoff required seven security guards and a forklift to barricade a park that has no staffing or admissions process, and which remains open whether NPS is on duty or not. That appears to be where the politics started, and McCaskill’s now playing the “squirrel” card … incompetently, at that.

As always, trying very hard to straddle the fence. She won reelection once but she also happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right political election disaster not in her lap.

Liberal KC and StL may be her butter, but the rest of the state is her bread and if she can’t moderate to them, she’s out her bread and all the butter in the state won’t win her a third term down the road.

There’s no spinning the fact that the WH carefully targeted certain memorials for its shutdown theater. That fact has been spreading far and wide by electronic word of mouth whether or not the media reports it.

You know, if they spent as much time, energy, and resources preventing illegals from entering this country that they do preventing citizens from visiting national parks and monuments, we probably wouldn’t have to address amnesty for illegals!!!

McCaskill is the biggest dope out there. She is just a moron. How the people of Missouri elected her again is just beyond me. Must have been voter fraud.

redguy on October 2, 2013 at 4:46 PM

War on wowmynz or something like that. Low information voters. The left media and politicians blowing a foot in mouth comment into histrionics. And a wishy-washy state Republican party, national party and tea-parties who look at winning as worth anything… which is why we have Roy Blunt instead of Chuck Purgason too.

It is called North St. Louis and Kansas City MO.

Murphy9 on October 2, 2013 at 4:47 PM

Yup. Pretty much half the state’s population rolled into those two voting blocs.

Like I said, low information voters… and, “What can the government do for me today cuz I’m owed. Gimme my handout.” And the cycle of poverty and self-fulfilling prophecy that they cannot succeed, so why try. Not all are like that, but it’s a large percentage no doubt and it’s a tough nut to crack, that generational mindset.

The efforts made to spin out of completely untenable positions are what make this political and comedic gold….

She then decried politicization of the shut out of veterans saying “this isn’t about politics, this is about honoring these men that served in World War II”.

Which reconciles how with….

“It appears as though only the highly visible monuments and areas are being closed to the public — further proof that the Obama Administration is only playing politics and purposely choosing to make this shut down as painful as possible,” House Natural Resources Committee chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said. …

On the other hand, Hastings’ team noted that the Constitution Gardens, the Upper Senate Park, and the Japanese-Americans Memorial, among others, remain open.

Not political? For the Progressive-fascists, it’s all political all the time.

She is shameful and pathetic. I have to give her credit for initiating me into the arrogance of Democrat politics. When the health care behemoth started back in 09 she was one of the first Senators that had a town hall, but also one of the first places(MO) where Senior Citizens started being vocal. There were videos of her and her staff hiding from them so as not to take their written complaints. It was totally childish.

Then when she finally had a town hall the place was getting loud and unruly. Nothing she could say was going to placate these people. Then she finally asked the infamous question: “What’s the matter, don’t you trust me?” The answer was a resounding “NO”.

Then snippets of other town halls started showing up on blogs and it never got any better. Arrogant, stupid, and elitist. I am afraid that describes almost every Democrat elected person in Congress. The Republicans aren’t much better, but we have been trying to chip away at that constituency.

i know it is fashionable to blame Akin for this (and he is to be blamed for mindless stupidity)…but really, wasn’t it the MOGOP that dropped the ball?

the competition for the nomination was weak…no one in the primary won resoundingly. It is as if the MOGOP decided that Claire would lose, so the R party didn’t have to work…they could putz around in there cozy clubs and chill.

Rs are idiots…they seriously are…over half don’t deserve to be in office.

and so we get Claire and barry again…and the Rs lost TWO seats in the Senate. Idiots

Remember when Reid complained about the stinky, sweaty, tourist that were touring the government buildings in DC? Well, all I can say is that both Reid and McCaskill are two stinking sweat hogs that need their butts removed from the Senate. They are a disgrace to America.

So rushed, that her visit was planned way ahead of any of this.
Even so much that she was there with veterans just a few weeks ago as well. Yea…that’s some real ‘rushing’.

verbaluce on October 2, 2013 at 5:03 PM

Why couldn’t you answer the direct questions about your fallacies in the other WW2 Memorial thread, and ran away?
Second shift for you OFA trolls?
If it was planned so far in advance, how does that make the vets GOP props?

If she doesn’t want politics, why is she blaming the TEA Party?
Do you know what the word “hypocrit” means?

You still haven’t answered – Who ordered and paid for the barrycades and guards where normally there are none?
Whoever did that is the one who is trying to make the vets into props.

There should be non-stop processions of people going to and non-violently pushing past fake White House-ordered barricades at every national park and memorial in the country from now until the Petulant Whiner-in-Chief is safely tucked back into his pad in Chicago.

‘Cuz, um, like, you know, Democrats NEVER engage in politicking or partisanship.

The Democrats never defunded the Vietnam War when American soldiers were fighting and dying in the jungles there.

They never shutdown the government over the end of the Fairness Doctrine.

They never made Reagan agree to the Boland Amendment in order to pass the budget and avoid a shutdown.

‘This tug-of-war exemplifies what is wrong with the federal budgeting process. It allows one party or the other to attach riders and amendments to bills that have nothing to do with the issue at hand. Then, the people who benefit most from the intent of the bill are left in the lurch.

Called her office to let her know my treatment costs 2x more than before. Premiums, co-pay and deductible all up.

Everytime you pay more for medical, call your senator and let them know. Let their staffers try to explain to you why their boss still supports Obama’s unaffordable Affordable Care Act.

You can almost hear the squirming over the phone as they tell you that despite your increasing costs, well, yes, senator ‘x’ still supports Obamacare. And you will send a message of reality which these people need to hear…